3. Levi Colwill
The academy graduate has been among Chelsea’s top five players this season in terms of appearances. He was an unused substitute against Brentford on Sunday in the Premier League, which suggests he’s likely to start in Poland.
At the beginning of the season, despite having an unreliable goalkeeper like Robert Sánchez behind him, Levi Colwill appeared to be showing glimpses of the potential everyone knows he possesses. His early-season partnership with Wesley Fofana also gave him the freedom to express himself on the pitch.
However, Fofana’s injury led to a dip in Colwill’s confidence, and Chelsea’s defensive performances suffered as a result. Since then, he has played alongside one of Benoît Badiashile, Trevoh Chalobah, and Josh Acheampong at the back, but the defensive issues have persisted.
When Fofana finally returned from injury, fans hoped to see him reunite with Colwill at the heart of Chelsea’s defense. However, in both matches he featured in, Maresca deployed the Frenchman at right-back. Later, during the March international break, Fofana suffered another injury despite being present at Cobham, ruling him out for the rest of the season.
Colwill may have missed the chance to reignite his partnership with Fofana, but there are still important matches ahead. The UEFA Conference League represents Chelsea’s only shot at silverware this season. The men’s team has not lifted a trophy in the past two campaigns. While Chelsea are among the favorites, success will be far from guaranteed. They will need their defense to be at its best, and Colwill must show why fans view him as a future leader of the club.